YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2012

Let’s try this experiment. Go to your Facebook , pick any friend and take a look at their friend list. Other than mutual friends, most of the other second-degree connections – unless they’re cute! – have little or no meaning to you. Now try again, except on LinkedIn. If you’re like most professionals, you’ll have far less connections on this online network compared to Facebook , but those second- and even third-degree links suddenly look a lot more useful.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Software Review Social Media Boston 150

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 13, 2012

I woke up this morning to a post from Fred Wilson titled The Academy For Software Engineering. In it Fred announced a new initiative in New York City called The Academy For Software Engineering. Fred, and his friend Mike Zamansky (a teacher at Stuyvesant High School) helped create this with the support of Mayor Bloomberg’s office and Fred and his wife Joanne are providing initial financial support for the project.

Leadership 130

Leadership New York City Software Engineering New York 130

deal architect

JANUARY 8, 2012

This continues a series of columns from practitioners I respect. The category "Real Deal" describes them well. This time it is Stan Swete, CTO and VP of Product Strategy at Workday. Besides being one of the best technologists in the.

Product 372

Product 372

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 10, 2012

Almost no startup founder values her time properly. Consultants know exactly what their time is worth: their hourly rate. As they say, it’s how much “the market will bear.” When a consultant intentionally doesn’t work for an hour — whether to be with family or to work on a new startup — they’re clearly giving up an hour of potential earnings.

Founder 291

Founder CPA Startup Early Stage 291

Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic

Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in

Startup

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 9, 2012

It wasn’t quite so long ago at GovCamp Singapore that citizens were arguing for more openness of public data. Today, at least one public sector organization has taken heed – the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is introducing the OneMap Challenge , a competition to leverage on over 45 layers of theme data contributed by various public agencies on OneMap as well as the datasets on www.data.gov.sg to develop location-based desktop and mobile applications useful to businesses and the pub

Singapore 190

Singapore Mobile Web Community 190

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2012

Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that their primary motivation is to “change the world” and to build something lasting, not to make a lot of money. But the conventional wisdom is that employees work for money, above all else. Yet my own experience, and a recent McKinsey survey , leads me to believe that non-cash motivators may be more effective in the long term than financial incentives.

Employee 252

Employee Non-Compete Leadership Audience 252

Jeff Hilimire

JANUARY 9, 2012

I’ve been a laptop guy for, well, as long as I can remember. I think probably everyone reading this is. The thought of not having a laptop is likely something that seems almost impossible to most of you, I’m guessing. And I was the same way a month ago. It’s important to note that my experience won’t be the same for those of you that are programmers or designers where you need complex software to do your job.

Software Review 52

Software Review Email Software Design 52

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 12, 2012

by Vickie Milazzo, author of “ Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman “. We all know men overwhelmingly populate the higher echelons of the business world. And most of us agree on the reasons why: sexism, a history of repression, the “Mommy track,” and so forth. But a new study conducted by researchers from several business schools, including Columbia University Business School, suggests there might be another reason for the shortage of women in high-level positions: we just don’t exaggerate enoug

Salary 188

Salary Matching Sales America 188

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2012

Whether it’s a business or personal interaction, multiple studies show that as much as 50-65% of the communication is nonverbal. That means that people who are addicted to text messaging and email may be sending only half the message, and receivers often misinterpret even that half. Yet the use of text messaging for business purposes continues to grow, in concert with more of Gen-Y entering the workplace, and a continuing increase in the global rate of texting by everyone.

Global 251

Global Email Demand Employee 251

deal architect

JANUARY 10, 2012

So, by now you have read a bunch of last year’s trends and forecasts for this year. You probably have your favorites – cloud computing or Big Data, maybe? Talk to CEOs and the big excitement is about what is.

Cloud 258

Cloud Forecast 258

Campus Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 13, 2012

VC Fred Wilson went to visit an entrepreneurship class at Harvard Business School and shares his insights. Yesterday I went up to Harvard Business School and participated in a lunch and a class. My friend Jeff Bussgang arranged the trip and we were hosted by HBS Professor Tom Eisenmann. Jeff and I sat in front of Tom’s class Launching Technology Ventures and talked for almost 2 hours on topics like Lean Startup Methodology, Pivoting, doing a startup vs joining a startup, and more.

Technical Review 34

Technical Review Lean Portfolio Hosting 34

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 13, 2012

Anybody who keep stuffed toys at home know how dirty those toys can get after a while. Especially in households with young children, those toys can get real filthy, real fast, and possibly pose as a health hazard. But washing soft toys wrongly can damage, or worse, destroy them. Enter Teddy Needs A Bath! – it is a first-of-its-kind washer and dryer bag for stuffed toys, allowing you to safely wash them (and get rid of those germs, bacteria, lice and dust mites), as well as keeps them prot

Product 217

Product Entrepreneur Marketing 217

Small Business Force

JANUARY 9, 2012

Choosing to be an entrepreneur means you believed enough in yourself and your business concept to risk the security of a regular job, a regular paycheck. It gave you the opportunity to "live life on the fault line," as your business got launched and haltingly began to generate revenue, and maybe even some positive cash flow. Every major step forward was a small victory to be celebrated.

Small Business 36

Small Business Dividend Development Team Review Security 36

deal architect

JANUARY 10, 2012

Update: since my post the SAP post has been revised to say “SAP Business ByDesign is the first fully-fledged ERP suite coming from SAP that users access and work with through the Internet.” ‘Tis the season for debates and fact.

Internet 253

Internet Software 253

For Entrepreneurs

JANUARY 11, 2012

This article looks at why customers expect different interactions with you depending on where they are in the buying cycle. It also examines how specific events trigger them into a buying mode. It then explains how you can use this information to make your marketing more effective. The Customer Buying Cycle A simple way to [.].

Customer 168

Customer Marketing Sales 168

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 11, 2012

by John Tschohl, author of “ Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service “ No matter how good you are at what you do, what business you’re in or where it is located, at some point you will find yourself facing an irate customer. When dealing with an irate customer, most employees want to turn and run – but this is actually a great opportunity to win a customer over for life if you know how to take control of the situation.

Customer 171

Customer Global Employee Conversion 171

Genuine VC

JANUARY 10, 2012

I recently received a email from an entrepreneur who I know with a genuine question about terms of his financing: " How do you guys at NextView feel about one of our investors holding super pro - rata rights for the next round?" We at NextView Ventures have more recently seen super pro-rata rights introduced by other investors in a couple of the rounds which we've participated, and have started to see a pattern emerge of the consequences of this insertion.

Term Sheet 131

Term Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Dilution 131

deal architect

JANUARY 12, 2012

Stephanie Overby recently wrote an article for CIOs to evaluate if they have outsourced too much IT work. I think analysts and bloggers should ask a similar question: are we too dependent on vendors for our content? Here are 7.

247

247

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 8, 2012

One of the companies I’m an investor in has a gong in the office. They bang it every time they sign up a new customer. They also have a virtual gong – an email that goes out to the entire company and board that starts with GONG: (Client Name). The salesperson who closed the deal gets to send the email out and write whatever he or she wants.

Email 138

Email Sales Naming Customer 138

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 8, 2012

Founded in 2011, Singapore-based Supernova Media is a media production company that specializes in production and post production services for feature films, corporate videos, television commercials, and even online media. For example, Supernova Media is currently handling post production work for “Red Numbers”, a Mandarin-language feature-length movie.

Media 170

Media Singapore Sweden Asia 170

Rembrandt Communications

JANUARY 11, 2012

Today, the world of public relations (PR) and search engine optimization (SEO) runs at the speed of light. You need to write, optimize, send, and monitor press releases quickly to keep up with news and the competition. In addition, your site needs to have the right SEO keywords and coding in place to be noticed [.].

PR 113

PR SEO Public Relations Engineer 113

deal architect

JANUARY 13, 2012

If I read another piece which praises IBM for exiting and calls HP dumb for staying with its PC business, I will scream. As CES showed this week, we are moving to the form/factor of thin and light Ultrabooks. With.

220

220

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 11, 2012

Following is something that happens to me on a regular basis, with a new and exciting twist. I’m telling this story both to vent (maybe I’m grumpy today – I don’t know) as well as for an object lesson on how not to interact with a VC, or at least with me. First – the normal part. I’ve had an email exchange with an entrepreneur over the past week.

Intellectual Property 133

Intellectual Property Denver Email Finance 133

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2012

by Jason Hennessey, CEO of Everspark Interactive. Be it from being more engaged and active in the social media landscape, especially on Google+ to focusing a larger effort on mobile and local marketing, there are many ways small businesses can increase their overall digital marketing and SEO strategies with little or no additional cost. Here are some of my suggested tactics: Focus on Local and Mobile.

SEO 168

SEO Small Business Marketing Social Media 168

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 9, 2012

Tweet. I haven’t spent much time talking about SOPA and PIPA , the two twin bills trying to make their way through Congress right now. When I saw folks like Fred Wilson, who has a much bigger reach than I do, and all the major internet companies lining up against it, it’s easy to think, “Well, what more can I do to add to the volume… they’ve got it covered.

IP 131

IP New York LP Internet 131

deal architect

JANUARY 9, 2012

A week ago J.P. Rangaswami of Salesforce.com tweeted about the London Docklands and it took me back in time. Around this time, two decades ago, I was getting ready to finish up my tour of duty in London. In the.

Cloud 199

Cloud 199

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 12, 2012

Every year my partners at Foundry Group and I go to CES. We aren’t boondoggle guys – our expeditions together are limited to a quarterly offsite, often at Jason’s house (10 minutes from our office), and one trip a year with spouses and significant others somewhere. So CES has been a nice tradition for us where we get to travel together for a few days, hang out in nerd and gadget heaven, and spend time with a bunch of entrepreneurs we work with who are here.

Las Vegas 128

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Boston Community 128

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 13, 2012

We all know that Silicon Valley as the hotbed of innovation that many countries and cities around the world have tried to replicate (and mostly failed). What some may not realize is that the startup scenes in other parts of the United States – New York, Chicago, Austin – has been seeing plenty of excitement in recent years. In particular, New York has been seeing plenty of startups emerge and blossom, and the city is now known (somewhat jokingly) as “Silicon Alley” Much o

Silicon Valley 160

Silicon Valley United States New York Chicago 160

David Teten

JANUARY 12, 2012

The Founder Institute recently posted a video from a talk I gave a little while ago on Startup Fundraising Hacks. Although my focus in this talk is raising capital, the ideas and technologies I discuss will also help you in recruiting star developers , sales , and even dating. The talk is dated in one respect: at the time I gave it, AngelList hadn’t yet hit the level of visibility that it does today, so I didn’t discuss it at all.

Founder 128

Founder Startup Social Media Video 128

deal architect

JANUARY 10, 2012

It’s less than 450 words. It’s written by a movie critic, not an industry analyst. I was impressed, however, how crisply Richard Corliss summarized trends in the movie industry in his Time column – its challenges and its global growth.

Global 186

Global 186

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 11, 2012

I’m in Las Vegas at CES. I walked the floor yesterday, had a bunch of meetings in the afternoon, and then went out to dinner at Nobu with my partners and a bunch of the founders of companies we are investors in. It was a great day but at the end of it I was totally used up, especially since I got up at 4am Las Vegas time to go to the airport. My plan today was to walk the floor of CES some more.

Las Vegas 126

Las Vegas Colorado Restful Partner 126

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 9, 2012

by Tage C. Tracy and John A. Tracy , authors of “ Cash Flow For Dummies® “ Every small business owner knows the trouble that comes with managing the ins and outs (pun intended!) of cash flow. You can have tons of loyal customers and be an expert at getting new business and still be kept awake at night with cash flow worries. Cash flow is an issue that can send good businesses to their graves.

Balance Sheet 160

Balance Sheet Matching Colorado Small Business 160

ConversionXL

JANUARY 13, 2012

A major factor affecting your conversions is user flow. It’s the path a user follows through your website interface to complete a task (make a reservation, purchase a product, subscribe to something). It’s also called user journey. In order to maximize your conversions, you have to get the user flow right – build one that matches user’s needs.

Design 132

Design PPC Conversion Matching 132

deal architect

JANUARY 10, 2012

on New Florence The Digital Doctor It’s all fun and games Rationalizing the Calendar Brad Feld by the numbers.

Technology 186

Technology 186

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 9, 2012

I’m working on a book with Mahendra Ramsinghani called “Startup Boards” where we are trying to provide clear best practices for how the boards of startup companies should work. You may recognize Mahendra’s name – he wrote The Business of Venture Capital which I reviewed recently. This book is part of my continuous effort to dramatically improve startup company boards.

Startup 121

Startup Venture Capital Naming Email 121

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 12, 2012

Brother International Corporation just launched a US$25,000 small business grant program together with entrepreneurial online resource StartupNation , offering five grant packages of $5,000 each to small business owners who can convince them how the grant money can help them start their own business, or grow a current one. Starting today through March 2012, five US$5,000 grants will be awarded to ambitious entrepreneurs who best demonstrate the vision, mission and aspiration in a business plan.

Small Business 153

Small Business Programming Cofounder Business Plan 153